WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today after the House passed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, which also contained provisions creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the causes of the financial crisis:

“With today’s passage of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, the House continues to take action on measures aimed at protecting consumers and preventing another economic crisis from occurring. This bill provides critical resources to help law enforcement pursue and prosecute mortgage and securities fraud, both of which combined to propel us into this recession.

“Just as importantly, this bill creates an outside, bipartisan commission to investigate the causes of the financial crisis and the current recession, so that we can draw lessons from these events. By learning what happened, we can work to ensure that a crisis of this magnitude does not occur again.”